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)  . 


THE  WORLD-TASK 

By  Rev.  Floyd  L.  Carr 

The  Possibility  of  World  Democracy 

7.  Birth  of  W orld-Consciousness 

A  new  world-consciousness  has  been  born  through  the  travail  of  the 
World-War.  Men  respond  with  a  new  understanding  to  the  lines: 

“Though  East  be  East,  though  West  be  West, 

The  world  they  form  is  one; 

Alike  the  aims  of  human  kind, 

The  goal  when  all  is  done.” 

President  Wilson  strikes  a  note  that  awakens  a  deep  and  universal  re¬ 
sponse  when  he  declares  that  “the  world  must  be  made  safe  for  Democ¬ 
racy.”  It  has  long  been  a  common-place  that  steam  and  electricity 
have  made  the  world  one  neighborhood,  but  the  War  has  illumined  the 
axiom  with  its  lurid  light.  Taylor  &  Luccock  in  “The  Christian  Cru¬ 
sade  for  World  Democracy”  say: 

“If  politics  make  strange  bed-fellows,  the  War  has  made  still  stranger  trench- 
feUows.  The  Gurkha  from  India,  the  Arab  from  Arabia,  the  Algerian  from  North 
Africa  and  Hottentot  from  Central  Africa  have  spilled  their  blood  along  with  the  New 
Zealander,  the  Canadian  and  the  Belgian  in  the  cause  of  freedom.  The  Fiji  Island- 
er  has  gone  over  the  top  with  the  French  and  American  for  others.  The  Sikh  of 
India  rightly  wears  the  Victoria  Cross  for  high  valor  along  with  his  English  comrade 
in  his  own  tongue  repeats  the  glorious  watchword  of  France. 
They  shall  not  pass!’” 

It  is  increasingly  recognized  that  the  winning  of  the  War  is  only  a  pre¬ 
lude  to  the  larger  task  of  making  the  world  safe  for  Democracy.  The 
Allied  nations  during  the  past  five  years  have  marshalled  their  resources 
to  uproot  the  weeds  that  choked  the  growth  of  democratic  and  Christian 
ideals  in  Europe.  This  achieved,  these  same  nations  are  now  confronted 
with  the  task  of  planting  the  beneficient  seeds  of  good-will,  democracy, 
justice  and  Christianity  in  the  neglected  fields  of  the  earth.  The  jungle 
of  ignorance,  superstition  and  oppression  must  give  way  to  the  abundant 
harvest  of  knowledge,  faith  and  freedom.  The  desert  of  heathendom’s 
sin  and  degradation  must  blossom  as  the  rose  under  the  stimulus  of  the 
ideals  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  fecundity  of  Jesus’  teachings  concerning  the 
loving  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  infinite  worth  and  rights  of  His  children 
has  manifested  itself  wherever  the  seeds  have  been  planted.  Shall  we 
withhold  these  seeds  from  the  needy  parts  of  the  world?  The  new  world¬ 
consciousness  forbids. 


4 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


2.  The  Function  of  Christian  Missions 

It  is  evident  then  that  Christian  Missions  are  destined  to  play  a  mighty 
part  in  the  making  of  the  world  safe  for  Democracy.  Herbert  Spencer 
said: 

There  is  no  political  alchemy  by  which  we  can  get  golden  conduct  out  of  lead¬ 
en  motives.” 

Dwight  L.  Moody  was  wont  to  say: 

If  you  want  to  get  good  water  it  is  not  enough  to  paint  the  pump,  you  must 
clean  out  the  well.” 

In  The  Christian  Crusade  for  World  Democracy”  the  writers,  Taylor 
&  Luccock  point  out  the  fact  that, 

“The  mainspring  of  human  progress  has  been  for  nineteen  hundred  years,  and 
is  today  the  Christian  faith.  The  moral  dynamic  that  transformed  our  wild  fore¬ 
fathers,  the  Saxons,  Celts  and  Scandinavians  into  civilized  nations  was  not  science, 
then  unborn,  not  politics,  literature  or  art;  it  was  Christianity.” 

The  power  that  has  in  the  last  one  hundred  years  aroused  Asia  and 
Africa  and  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific  from  the  sleep  of  centuries  is  not 
commercial  or  governmental  but  Christian.  The  credentials  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  for  a  world-task  are  well  urged  in  the  words  of  President 
Wilson: 

“The  Gospel  of  Christ  is  the  only  force  in  the  world  that  I  have  ever  heard  of 
that  does  actually  transform  the  life;  and  the  proof  of  that  transformation  is  to  be 
found  all  over  the  world  and  is  multiplied  and  repeated  as  Christianity  gains  fresh 
territory  in  the  heathen  world.” 

That  the  Christian  missionary  has  played  and  is  destined  to  play  no 
small  part  in  the  world-task  none  can  gainsay.  Dr.  Sidney  L.  Gulick 
sets  forth  the  larger  work  of  the  messenger  of  Love: 

“The  missionary  is  now  seen  to  be  not  merely  saving  a  few  individuals  from  the 
general  wreck  of  the  pagan  world,  but  planting  a  new  life  which  will  transform  that 
world  and  bring  it  into  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Christ  must  be  made  King  in  our 
organized  life  as  communities  and  thus  society  be  saved,  even  as  He  has  been  made 
Saviour  of  individuals.  Foreign  missions  in  all  their  activities  aim  at  the  double 
purpose  of  saving  both  individuals  and  society — the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  through  the  production  of  children  of  God.” 

Eminent  American  leaders,  not  predisposed  in  favor  of  the  missionary 
enterprise  by  their  early  point  of  view  and  training,  have  united  in  recogni¬ 
tion  of  the  fundamental  value  of  the  work  of  Christian  missionaries.  Hon. 
William  B.  Reed,  trained  merely  in  the  school  of  American  politics,  said: 

“I  went  to  the  East  with  no  enthusiasm  as  to  the  missionary  enterprise.  I 
came  back  with  the  fixed  conviction  that  missionaries  are  the  great  agents  of 
civilization.” 

David  Morgenthau,  of  the  Jewish  race,  said  on  his  return  from  serv¬ 
ice  as  American  Ambassador  in  Constantinople: 

“A  residence  of  over  two  years  in  Turkey  has  given  me  the  best  possible  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  see  the  work  of  the  American  missionaries  and  to  know  the  workers  inti¬ 
mately.  Without  hesitation  I  declare  my  high  opinion  of  their  keen  insight  into 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


5 

the  real  needs  of  the  people  of  Turkey.  They  go  straight  to  the  foundations  and 
provide  those  intellectual,  physical,  moral  and  religious  benefits  upon  which  alone 
any  true  civilization  can  be  built.” 

Nor  is  direct  evidence  lacking  that  in  theory  and  in  practice  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  are  training  in  Democracy  the  peoples  of  the  backward  lands. 
The  Bishop  of  Calcutta  (Church  of  England)  said  to  Tyler  Dennett  not 
long  ago: 

For  thirty  years  I  taught  Green’s  English  History  to  students  in  a  mission 
college.  1  always  said  to  myself  after  finishing  the  course,  Tf  these  boys  do  not 
appropriate  some  of  these  ideals,  it  will  not  be  my  fault.’  ” 

Bishop  Lewis  of  the  M.  E.  Mission  in  China  says: 

u  church  in  Asia  is  a  miniature  republic.  The  only  trial  by  jury  which 

the  Chinese  know  is  that  which  is  practised  in  the  discipline  of  the  Church.” 


J.  The  Leadership  of  America. 

America  s  policy  in  respect  to  China  and  the  Philippines  is  in  marked 
contrast  to  the  European  record  of  exploitation  and  has  given  our  nation 
a  mighty  influence  in  the  Far  East.  China  has  counted  America  her 
friend  ever  since  the  return  of  the  1 10,000,000.00  Boxer  indemnity.  Hun¬ 
dreds  of  Chinese  students  supported  by  the  interest  of  that  fund,  are  now 
studying  m  America  and  in  every  intelligent  Chinese  mind  there  is  a  settled 
predisposition  to  trust  America.  China’s  revolution  in  1911  and  the 
founding  of  an  elemental  republic  by  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  and  others  was  the 
direct  outcome  of  the  leaven  of  American  ideals  working  through  China’s 
millions. 


But  Arnerican  leadership  in  the  East  is  not  due  so  much  to  its  liberal 
dealings  with  China  as  to  its  unselfish  policy  in  the  Philippines.  Presi¬ 
dent  McKinley  sounded  our  high  ideal  saying: 


.  Philippines  are  ours,  not  to  exploit  but  to  develop,  civilize,  educate  and 
tram  in  the  science  of  self-government.  This  is  the  path  of  duty  which  we  must 
follow  or  be  recreant  to  a  mighty  trust  committed  to  us.” 


In  Taylor  &  Luccock’s  work,  “The  Christian  Crusade  for  World 
Democracy”  (pp.  148-49),  the  following  review  of  the  progress  of  the  Phil¬ 
ippines  is  given: 


^  be  proud  that  our  nation  has  been  true  to  that  trust.  We  have 
F  we  have,  science,  education  of  the  women,  intel- 

religious  liberty  and  a  great  liberal  government  in  which  they  themselves 
have  part.  It  is  a  record  of  progress  unexampled  in  the  contact  of  any  Western 
people  with  any  part  of  Asia  In  eighteen  brief  years  have  been  brought  about  the 
F^n£df<fh  ^  century.  Over  600,000  children  are  in  the  public  schools,  in  which  the 
English  language  is  used.  After  eleven  years  of  American  control  the  trade  of  the 
islands  was  three  times  as  large  as  the  highest  figures  under  Spain.  Improved  agri¬ 
cultural  methods  good  roads  and  railways  are  vastly  increasing  material  prosperfty. 

annual  scourge,  has  been  completely  wiped  out.  Cholera 
has  disappeared.  The  death  rate  in  Manila  has  been  cut  down  50%  under  AmerF 
can  occupation.  No  wonder  900  million  people  in  the  Far  East  are  watchin^the 
American  experiment  toward  Democracy  in  the  Philippines.”  ^ 


6 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


It  is  therefore  evident  that  America’s  avowed  principles  and  recognized 
leadership  constitute  both  a  challenge  and  a  responsibility  in  respect  to 
the  larger  task  of  making  the  world  safe  for  Democracy.  This  cannot 
be  effected  by  merely  safeguarding  the  weaker  nations  from  invasion  and 
exploitation,  but  requires  the  strengthening  of  the  inner  life  of  those  na¬ 
tions  in  moral  character  and  in  the  powers  of  self-government.  It  is  just 
here  that  Christian  missions  with  their  many-sided  contributions  to  the 
elevation  of  the  backward  peoples  play  a  mighty  part.  We  shall  follow 
these  contributions  to  Democracy  by  tracing  in  succession  the  philolog¬ 
ical  progress,  educational  service,  economic  development,  medical  minis¬ 
try,  moral  uplift,  and  evangelistic  impetus  of  Christian  missions. 

I.  Philological  Progress. 

It  is  evident  that  men  cannot  even  think  in  terms  of  world  Democracy 
unless  they  can  understand  each  other.  Much  less  can  the  future  leaders 
of  backward  nations  bring  their  fellow-men  to  the  height  of  freedom  unless 
the  masses  are  baptized  in  literature  that  conveys  the  ideals  of  the  prog¬ 
ress  of  human  liberty.  It  is  a  self-evident  truth  that  printer’s  ink  has 
been  more  potent  in  advancing  the  cause  of  liberty  than  gunpowder. 
But  how  bring  “printer’s  ink”  to  bear  on  a  people  whose  language  has 
never  been  reduced  to  writing?  Dr.  Richards  of  Mozambique  writes 
concerning  the  natives  of  Africa: 

“These  people  had  never  heard  of  ink  till  we  brought  it  to  them.  There  was 
no  history,  no  book,  no  alphabet,  not  a  single  idea  as  to  how  thought  and  words 
could  be  transferred  to  paper  and  from  paper  to  comprehension.  They  could  not 
even  tell  what  paper  was,  but  called  it  a  ‘leaf.’  ” 

Dr.  W.  W.  Keen  (M.D.)  in  his  able  address  before  the  Northern  Bap¬ 
tist  Convention  in  1908,  said: 

“Few  missionary  languages,  even  the  most  developed,  had  even  a  dictionary. 
We  owe  to  missionary  philologists  nearly  150  dictionaries,  including  the  earliest 
ones  of  Ulfas  for  the  Goths,  Cyril  for  the  Slavs,  our  own  Eliot’s  for  the  American 
Indian,  Hepburn’s  for  the  Japanese  and  Stevens’  for  the  Burmese,  Burns’  for  the 
Telugu,  etc.” 

Prof.  Whitney  of  Yale  the  distinguished  Orientalist  once  said: 

“I  have  a  strong  realization  of  the  value  of  missionary  labors  to  science.  The 
American  Oriental  Society  has  been  very  dependent  upon  them  for  its  usefulness. 
There  would  hardly  be  occasion  for  the  Society  at  all,  but  for  them.” 

Pres  Faunce  in  his  able  work  “The  Social  Aspects  of  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sions”  (pp.  104-115)  calls  attention  to  the  “herculean  labors  of  the  torch 
bearers  of  the  Light  of  the  World”: 

“The  Bible,  or  a  large  part  of  it,  has  been  translated  into  about  500  distinct 
languages  and  dialects  and  nearly  one-half  of  these  languages  had  first  to  be  reduced 
to  writing.  It  is  easy  to  record  such  a  fact,  but  who  can  measure  the  appalling 
toil  involved  or  the  enormous  human  uplift  resulting.” 

In  the  light  of  these  thoughtful  tributes  does  not  the  philological 
contribution  of  the  Church  Missionary  to  world  democracy  appear  to  be 
monumental? 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


7 


II.  Educational  Service. 

The  discerning  link  together  the  names  of  Horace  Mann  and  George 
Washington  as  builders  of  the  American  Republic.  Free  institutions 
cannot  take  root  in  the  sterile  soil  of  ignorance.  The  public  school  and 
the  town  meeting  were  the  two  pillars  of  the  arch  of  Democracy  in  New 
England.  The  failure  of  Russia  to  maintain  a  secure  democracy  when  the 
revolution  came,  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  83%  of  her  popula¬ 
tion  can  neither  read  nor  write.  Professor  Ross  says: 

“To  look  for  a  national  consciousness  among  people  who  have  no  mental  image 
of  Russia,  never  saw  a  map  of  the  world,  and  could  not  locate  their  country  on 
such  a  map,  would  be  folly.  Russia’s  experiences  demonstrate  the  serious  obsta¬ 
cles  to  world  democracy  which  exist  in  the  ignorance  and  mental  weakness  upon 
the  part  of  the  multitudes  who  desire  to  share  in  it.’’ 

When  we  turn  to  the  non-Christian  world  we  find  it  ignorant  and  illit¬ 
erate  and  ill-prepared  to  share  in  the  blessings  of  Democracy.  The  non- 
Christian  world  makes  up  the  great  bulk  of  the  80%  of  humanity  that 
can  neither  read  nor  write.  According  to  the  latest  census  report,  94% 
in  India  are  illiterate,  as  against  6%  in  the  United  States.  In  China  an 
even  larger  percentage  are  illiterate.  In  Latin  America  the  illiteracy  ranges 
from  40%  to  over  80%  in  the  various  countries.  In  Moslem  lands.  Dr. 
Zwemer  estimates  that  with  the  exception  of  Turkey,  83%  are  not  literate. 
In  Egypt,  for  example,  only  three  out  of  every  1000  Mohammedan  women 
can  read  and  write.  In  pagan  Africa,  apart  from  the  influences  of  mis¬ 
sion  schools,  the  people  do  not  even  know  that  writing  has  ever  been  in¬ 
vented. 

Our  own  leaders  have  ever  recognized  the  necessity  for  the  laying  of  a 
broad  and  firm  foundation  in  educational  ministry.  To  again  quote  from 
the  address  of  Dr.  W.  W.  Keen  before  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention 
in  1908: 

“Ignorance  is  the  handmaid  of  superstition  and  vice.  What  Tuskegee  and 
Hampton  and  Shaw  Universities  are  doing  for  the  black  race  in  our  own  country 
must  be  done  still  more  in  heathen  lands  if  the  people  are  to  be  educated  and  civil¬ 
ized.  Not  only  must  the  masses  be  taught  to  read  and  write,  in  order  that  the 
truths  of  the  Bible  may  be  available,  but  educated  native  teachers  and  preachers 
must  also  be  provided  for  them.  In  this  connection  it  is  significant  that  the  Em¬ 
peror  of  Korea  in  suggesting  a  name  for  a  Methodist  Institution  of  higher  learning 
in  Korea,  named  it  Tai  Chai  Hak  Fong’  (the  Hall  for  Rearing  Useful  Men).’’ 

China  shows  us  a  nation  of  450  million^  of  people  awakening  from  the 
slumber  of  centuries  to  found  a  republic  and  first  of  all  laying  eager  hands 
upon  the  tools  which  missionary  enterprise  had  shaped  to  hand. 

Taylor  &  Luccock  in  “The  Christian  Crusade  for  World  Democracy” 
say: 

“China  has  embarked  on  the  most  stupendous  educational  task  ever  attempted. 
It  involves  the  providing  of  a  million  schools  and  a  million  school  teachers  to  fur¬ 
nish  instruction  for  the  children  of  school  age.  Only  2%  of  the  children  are  now 
being  educated.  Temples  are  being  confiscated  in  many  cities  to  accommodate 
schools  and  colleges.  Since  the  edict  of  1905  abolishing  the  old  system  of  education 
and  substituting  modern  methods  of  instruction  the  old  examination  halls  are 


8 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


crumbling  into  dust.  Now,  the  student  who  would  win  governmental  positions 
must  answer  questions  in  European  history,  in  economics,  in  social  science  and  the 
old  Chinese  officials  have  gone  into  hiding,  never  to  emerge.” 

It  is  to  the  glory  of  Christian  missions  that  its  workers  are  training 
2,000,000  young  people  in  preparation  for  a  life  of  usefulness.  The  latest 
available  statistics  (1916)  tell  us  of  376  kindergartens,  36,478  elementary 
schools,  2,114  secondary  schools,  109  colleges  and  universities  and  406 
theological  and  Bible  training  schools.  These  schools  are  torches  which 
will  kindle  a  million  beacons  on  the  hills  of  Africa,  South  America  and 
Asia  in  the  generation  to  come.  Those  who  patiently  train  the  rising 
generation  have  heard  the  bugle  call  of  freedom  and  Democracy  and  spring 
to  leadership. 

“Still  with  the  sound  of  trumpet, 

Far,  far  off  the  daybreak  call: 

Hark,  how  loud  and  clear  I  hear  it  wind. 

Swift  to  the  head  of  the  Army 
Swift,  spring  to  your  places; 

Pioneers,  O  Pioneers.” 

III.  Economic  Development. 

But  the  elevating  of  the  standard  of  intelligence  inevitably  leads  to 
the  raising  of  the  standard  of  living  and  to  meet  the  new  needs  of  the  rising 
generation  there  must  be  training  to  increase  economic  efficiency.  J. 
Lovell  Murray  in  “The  Call  ofaWorld  Task”  (p.  117), pictures  the  econom¬ 
ic  woe  of  the  backward  peoples: 

“Every  non-Christian  land  is  poor.  A  day  laborer  in  India,  when  work  is  to 
be  had,  receives  less  than  10  cents  a  day  and  the  average  yearly  income  per  capita 
for  the  whole  of  India  is  under  ten  dollars.  In  China  the  unskilled  laborer  earns 
from  10  to  20  cents  per  day.  The  average  daily  earnings  of  the  Latin-American 
peon  amount  to  18  cents  per  day.  The  immediate  causes  of  poverty  in  non-Christian 
lands  vary  somewhat  in  different  countries.  They  include  poor  agricultural  methods 
priest-craft,  improvidence,  intemperance,  caste,  lack  of  industries,  and  ex¬ 
ploitation.  Famines,  unknown  in  Christian  lands,  are  common.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  there  is  famine  in  some  part  of  Asia  all  the  time.  Five  million  perished 
in  India  during  the  famine  of  1900.” 

The  diversified  contribution  of  a  Christian  missionary  to  the  economic 
welfare  of  his  people  is  signally  illustrated  in  the  many-sided  ministry  of 
Mackay  of  Uganda,  ably  summarized  by  Pres.  Faunce  in  “The  Social 
Aspect  of  Foreign  Missions”  (pp.  159-60): 

“One  of  the  first  tasks  of  Mackay  of  Uganda,  who  went  out  to  Africa  in  1876,  was 
the  building  of  239  miles  of  road  to  open  up  a  new  territory.  Fortunate  indeed  it 
was  for  him  that  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh  he  had  studied  mathematics,  sur¬ 
veying,  mechanics,  drafting  and  the  principles  of  fortification.  He  could  build 
a  house  or  a  boat  or  a  bridge  or  a  canal  with  equal  facility.  So  this  ingenious  and 
daring  spirit  carried  into  Africa  as  part  of  his  missionary  outfit,  steam  pipes,  cylin¬ 
ders,  piston-rods,  crank  shafts,  pumps,  forges,  screws  and  rivets.  With  his  own 
hands  he  calked  the  seams  of  his  boat,  worked  at  the  lathe,  made  candles  of  ox  fat, 
built  a  steam  engine,  fitted  up  a  pit  saw  to  make  planks  and  created  the  essentials  of 
decent  life  in  Uganda.  The  Uganda  Railroad,  nearly  600  miles  long,  was  Mackay’s 
suggestion,  as  it  is  one  of  his  monuments.  In  fourteen  wonderful  years,  he  saw 
Uganda  made  a  Christian  province.” 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


9 


One  of  the  leaders  in  this  realm  in  India  is  Sam  Higginbotham  who  be¬ 
came  convinced  that  he  could  best  serve  India  by  introducing  American 
methods  and  machinery  into  India’s  agricultural  life.  After  teaching 
economics  for  five  years  in  Ewing  College  at  Allahabad,  he  returned  to 
America  to  take  a  course  in  agriculture  at  the  Ohio  State  University.  Of 
his  new  work  at  Ewing  College,  Sir  James  Meston,  the  Lieut.  Governor  of 
the  United  Provinces,  said: 

“I  confess  that  after  I  have  been  here  and  spent  an  hour  on  the  farm,  I  always  go 
away  seeing  visions.  I  see  a  vision  of  a  very  different  India  from  what  we  have  now 
— of  an  India  in  which  the  whole  country-side  has  been  metamorphosed  by  agri¬ 
cultural  skill  and  science;  in  which  the  people  are  comfortable,  in  which  the  land 
is  immune  from  the  ravages  of  famine,  in  which  the  ground  is  producing  three, 
four,  five,  six  times  what  it  now  produces;  and  as  a  correlative  to  that  I  see  a  vision 
of  the  great  towns  busy  with  the  hum  of  looms  and  purr  of  electric  machinery 
(which  I  hope  means  smokeless  chimneys)  turning  out  the  comforts  and  luxuries 
which  a  prosperous  country-side  will  require.  It  is  a  vision  of  a  great  and  pros¬ 
perous  country  striding  forward  to  higher  things.” 

The  Christian  missionaries  not  only  lay  a  stable  foundation  for  the 
future  democratization  of  a  given  land  by  inaugurating  vast  economic 
movements,  but  they  contribute  mightily  by  challenging  and  developing 
the  resourcefulness  of  the  enlightened  native  leaders.  A  remarkable 
illustration  of  Christian  business  progress  was  reported  in  the  February 
1915  number  of  “The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World.”  To  quote  the 
substance  of  the  article: 

“The  Commercial  Press  Ltd.  of  Shanghai,  China,  was  established  in  1897  by 
three  young  Chinese  printers,  two  of  them  employees  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission 
Press.  The  demand  for  school  books  which  came  with  the  introduction  of  Western 
learning  gave  them  their  opportunity  and  the  Commercial  Press  forged  to  the  front 
as  the  producers  of  just  what  the  new  China  was  requiring.  The  Christianity  of 
the  company  is  everywhere  apparent.  Spacious,  well  ventilated  rooms  present  a 
marked  contrast  to  the  stuffy  apartments  in  which  the  other  printers  of  China 
must  spend  long  hours.  Clean  and  comfortable  blocks  of  dwellings  for  rent  at 
moderate  prices  have  been  erected  especially  for  employees.  School  privileges  from 
kindergarten  to  high  school  are  maintained  for  the  children  of  the  workers.  A 
small  hospital  has  been  opened  for  the  employees,  sick  or  injured.  A  work-day 
of  nine  hours  with  a  Sunday  holiday  is  a  unique  feature  of  this  shop.  The  em¬ 
ployees  are  well-paid,  a  bonus  in  proportion  to  the  record  of  their  work  is  given,  and 
a  certain  sum  is  set  aside  as  a  pension  fund  for  retired  workmen  or  their  families.” 

What  better  contribution  to  the  stability  and  strength  of  the  new  Republic 
could  be  found  than  this  harvest  from  missionary  seed-planting  in  the 
“Sun-Rise  Kingdom”  ? 

Who  can  measure  the  economic  and  social  uplift  of  the  209  industrial 
schools  and  the  countless  industrial  enterprises  for  the  uplift  of  the  back¬ 
ward  peoples?  Who  can  calculate  the  encouragement  to  thrift  and  enter¬ 
prise  of  the  agricultural  schools,  printing  presses,  cloth  factories,  potteries, 
carpenter  shops,  brick  kilns,  wagon  factories,  etc.?  Self-help  is  the  best 
help  and  this  is  developed  by  the  wise  leadership  of  the  Christian  mis¬ 
sionaries.  Who  can  measure  the  influence  on  generations  as  yet  unborn  of 
such  men  as  Mackay,  Haller,  Miller  and  Higginbotham? 


lO 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


“There’s  a  legion  that  never  was  listed. 
That  carries  no  colors  nor  crest, 

But  split  in  a  thousand  detachments. 
Is  breaking  the  roads  for  the  rest.’’ 


IV.  Medical  Ministry. 

Of  no  small  consequence  in  the  marshalling  of  the  workers  who  shall 
make  the  world  safe  for  Democracy  is  that  noble  company  of  medical 
missionaries  who  imitate  Him  who  “went  about  doing  good.”  Like 
their  Master  they  can  say: 

“The  Spirit  of  God  is  upon  me  because  He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gos¬ 
pel  to  the  poor;  He  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken  hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to 
the  captives  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised.”  Luke  4:18. 

Their  task  is  the  conserving  of  human  life  and  the  exemplification  of  those 
principles  of  brotherhood  which  must  be  woven  into  the  web  of  true  De¬ 
mocracy. 

The  need  in  the  non-Christian  lands  is  well  understood  and  yet  gener¬ 
ally  disregarded.  In  America,  we  have  a  doctor  to  every  1,600  people 
while  in  China  there  is  but  one  Western  doctor  to  every  million  of  people. 
Say  Harris  and  Robbins  in  their  work  “A  Challenge  to  Life  Service”: 

“The  non-Christian  world  is  helpless  in  the  face  of  disease.  Even  in  India  where 
the  British  Governor  has  attempted  to  relieve  the  situation  by  providing  hospitals 
and  medical  helpers  as  many  people  as  the  population  of  the  United  States  are  be¬ 
yond  the  reach  of  the  simplest  medical  aid.  An  estimate  by  careful  students  sug¬ 
gests  that  90  out  of  every  100  of  the  inhabitants  of  non-Christian  lands  have  ab¬ 
solutely  no  access  to  modern  medical  treatment.” 

One  present-day  incident  culled  from  Tyler  Dennett’s  inspiring  book, 
“The  Democratic  Movement  in  Asia”  (p.  124)  will  illustrate  our  point: 

“Fenchow,  North  China,  recently  had  an  epidemic  of  diptheria.  There  were 
available  only  two  Western-trained  medical  men,  Dr.  Percy  T.  Granger  of  the 
American  Board  and  his  Chinese  assistant.  Dr.  Ma.  They  telegraphed  the 
Board  of  Health  in  Peking  requesting  that  the  local  health  official  be  asked  to 
cooperate  in  checking  the  epidemic.  Peking  responded  through  the  proper 
channels,  ordering  the  local  authorities  to  give  every  possible  cooperation.  The 
magistrate  disposed  of  the  matter  by  having  posted  all  over  the  city  an  official 
proclamation,  prepared  in  consultation  with  the  Chinese  doctors,  which  suggested 
the  following  prescription;  ‘Use  women’s  toenails,  bamboo  pith  and  bed-bugs; 
grind  to  a  powder  and  sprinkle  in  the  throat.’  ” 

Ward  and  Edwards  in  their  work,  “Christianizing  Community  Life,” 
(pp.  70-72),  tell  us  that: 

“Missionaries  have  carried  modern  medicine  and  surgery  into  Japan,  Korea, 
China,  India,  Turkey  and  Africa.  Christianity  thus  inspires  the  care  of  the  sick 
and  helpless  through  countless  institutions  and  personal  services.  In  many  lands 
medical  missionaries  have  been  pioneers  in  stamping  out  plagues  and  epidemics. 
Smallpox,  for  example,  went  unchecked  in  Siam  until  the  missionaries  introduced 
vaccination.” 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


II 


Tyler  Dennett  gives  the  following  impressive  summary  of  medical  mis¬ 
sions  in  “The  Democratic  Movement  in  Asia,”  (p.  134): 

“The  most  recent  mission  statistics  indicate  that  there  are  now  over  700  mis¬ 
sion  hospitals,  scattered  over  the  world  and  over  ia,ooo  dispensaries.  Over  1,000 
missionary  doctors,  a  third  of  whom  are  women,  ministering  to  the  needs  of  countless 
patients.  They  are  assisted  by  over  500  trained  native  nurses,  230  native^physi- 
cians,  and  about  2,000  native  assistants.” 

The  Christian  Church  can  well  be  proud  of  such  a  company  of  torch 
bearers  whose  mission  is  to  assist  their  fellow-men  in  the  “pursuit  of  happi¬ 
ness.” 


V.  Moral  Uplift. 

Back  of  the  struggles  between  autocracy  and  democracy  lies  the  age- 
long  warfare  between  selfishness  and  altruism.  The  Christian  missionaries 
stand  as  a  lasting  rebuke  to  those  who  would  selfishly  exploit  their  fellow- 
men.  They  who  obey  their  Lord’s  commands,  “Love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself,”  and  “Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you  do  ye 
also  unto  them”  are  the  true  builders  of  that  highway  that  Isaiah  saw 
from  afar: 

“And  a  highway  shall  be  there,  and  a  way,  and  it  shall  be  called  the  way  of  holi¬ 
ness;  the  unclean  shall  not  pass  over  it,  but  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  shall  return  and 
come  to  Zion  with  songs  and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads;  they  shall  obtain  joy 
and  gladness,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away.” — Isaiah  35:8-10. 

Those  who  are  inspired  by  the  vision  of  a  world  blossoming  under 
Democracy  earnestly  give  themselves  to  the  task  of  clearing  away  the 
rank  underbrush  of  the  neglect  of  childhood,  the  diseased  and  suffering, 
rooting  up  the  poisonous  runners  of  contempt  for  womanhood,  destroying, 
the  rank  weeds  of  immorality,  the  caste  system  and  the  opium  and  liquor 
habits.  “A  large  contract,”  you  say;  no,  this  is  none  other  than  a  Chris¬ 
tian’s  job. 

Christian  altruism  is  a  new  idea  to  the  heathen  world  for  neglect  of  the 
suffering  and  unfortunate  is  the  heathen  rule  of  conduct.  What  a  deep 
and  lasting  impression  then,  must  be  made  upon  their  minds  by  the  583 
orphanages,  foundling  asylums,  leper  hospitals,  schools  for  the  blind,  the 
deaf,  and  the  dumb,  homes  for  widows  and  asylums  for  the  insane,  carried 
on  by  self-sacrificing  and  devoted  men  and  women  who  give  up  their  time, 
their  labor  and  often  their  health  and  lives  in  the  service  of  their  fellow- 
beings!  Where  has  heathenism  a  similar  roll-of-honor  ?  Who  can  meas¬ 
ure  its  impact  for  human  brotherhood.^ 

Christian  ethics  is  wrestling  with  the  problem  of  impurity  in  non-Chris¬ 
tian  lands  and  is  slowly  gaining  the  advantage.  But  the  debased  religion 
of  India  and  the  materialism  of  Japan  and  the  gross  sensualism  of  Africa 
present  a  solid  front.  The  high  standards  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus  have 
caused  the  defenders  of  the  Koran  and  the  upholders  of  the  Vedas  to 
hang  their  heads  in  shame.  The  increasing  response  to  monogamy  and 


12 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


the  single  standard  streaks  the  eastern  sky  with  dawning  light.  The  faith 
of  the  Crusaders  is  often  taxed,  yet  they  sing: 

“We’re  beaten  back  in  many  a  fray. 

While  fighting  sin  and  sorrow, 

But  where  the  vanguard  fights  today. 

The  rear  guard  camps  tomorrow.” 

Vast  encouragement  comes  to  those  who  dream  of  world  uplift  in  the 
latent  rnoral  energy  of  the  supposedly  sluggish  nations.  Taylor  &  Luc- 
cock  m  “The  Christiaij  Crusade  for  World  Democracy”  outline  the  heroic 
war  that  China  is  waging  upon  a  habit  fastened  upon  her  by  a  so-called 
Christian  nation: 

most  astounding  feature  of  China’s  awakening  is  the  moral  advance 
strikingly  illu^rated  by  the  war  on  opium  begun  in  the  edict  of  the  Empress  Dowa- 
pr  m  1906.  Thirty  years  ago  the  majority  of  people  in  Europe  and  America  would 
abofished^  bVhina^’^*^  gravitation  being  abolished  as  of  opium-smoking  being 

E.  A.  Ross  in  his  able  book  “The  Changing  Chinese”  calls  the  warfare  on 
opium  which  China  has  conducted  for  ten  years  “the  most  extensive  war¬ 
fare  on  a  vicious  habit  that  the  world  has  ever  known.” 

The  possibility  of  the  transformation  of  backward  peoples  is  also  won¬ 
derfully  illustrated  by  the  account  of  the  reforms  instituted  by  Chief 
Khama  of  Bechuana  which  Jean  Mackenzie  quotes  in  “An  African  Trail  ” 
(p.  203): 

“From  the  very  outset  the  young  chief  declared  his  intention  of  ruling  his  peo- 
piCS  according  to  the  Christian  principles.  In  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  old 
heathen  elenient  he  was  successful  in  gradually  putting  down  objectionable  customs 
such  as  witchcraft,  wife  purchase  and  slavery;  in  stopping  the  introduction  of  bran¬ 
dy  into  his  territories,  and  in  building  up  a  stable  kingdom  on  the  ruins  of  the  old 
lawless  and  disordered  state.” 

yi.  Evangelistic  Endeavor. 

Back  of  all  philological  progress,  all  educational  service,  all  economic 
development,  all  medical  ministry,  and  all  moral  uplift  is  the  dynamic  of 
the  Christian  faith  and  motive.  Hand  in  hand  with  all  so-called  practical 
ministry  must  proceed  the  ministry  of  the  spirit.  Not  only  the  great 
democratic  ideal  of  Jesus  concerning  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man,  but  the  regenerating  power  of  the  Gospel  of  the  cruci¬ 
fied  Son  of  God  is  essential  to  the  remaking  of  the  world. 

The  need  of  a  redemptive  Gospel  is  reflected  in  the  life  story  of  every 
pioneer  missionary.  In  “The  Call  of  a  World  Task”  (pp.  1 20-1 21)  J.  Lovell 
Murray  tells  us: 

“The  pioneer  missionaries  as  they  entered  each  new  field  have  been  depressed  by 
the  moral  atmosphere  into  which  they  have  entered.  They  have  met  with  many 
excellencies  and  virtues  such  as  courtesy,  hospitality,  loyalty  and  filial  devotion. 
But  they  have  found  dishonesty,  graft,  government  corruption,  polygamy,  impuri¬ 
ty,  cruelty,  slavery,  infanticide,  murder  and  even  cannibalism  flourishing  in  their 
various  communities  with  little  conscience  against  them.  They  have  sometimes 
written  home  that  they  could  bear  loneliness  and  deprivation  and  hardship  with 
glad  heart,  but  that  to  breathe  the  stifling,  foul  air  of  sin  day  and  night  was  almost 
beyond  endurance.” 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


ij 

The  need  of  a  real  redemptive  Gospel  for  building  a  stable  democracy 
is  seen  in  the  weakness  of  the  Oriental  religions.  Hinduism  has  become 
gross  and  sensuous  idolatry.  It  is  the  only  religion  in  the  world  in  which 
impurity  has  become  fundamentally  a  part  of  its  religious  ceremonies. 
Buddhism,  founded  by  Gautama  Buddha  who  deserted  his  wife  and  infant 
child  to  live  a  life  of  contemplation,  ultimately  became  like  Hinduism, 
degrading  idolatry.  Confucianism  is  not  really  a  religion,  it  is  a  system 
of  ethics,  but  it  is  powerless  to  lift  the  masses  to  the  level  of  its  teachings. 
Mohammedanism  is  weighted  down  with  customs  and  ideals  that  lag  far 
behind  the  standard  of  the  age. 

Though  Christianity  be  recognized  as  uniquely  qualified  to  supply 
the  moral  and  spiritual  dynamic  for  world-democracy  yet  the  Christian 
Church  is  confronted  with  a  stupendous  task,  for  nearly  a  billion  people, 
almost  two-thirds  of  the  population  of  the  globe,  have  never  heard  of 
Christ. 

President  Faunce  writing  in  “The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,” 
(Vol.  39,  p.  356)  says: 

“It  is  no  petty  province  that  we  have  to  subdue,  no  parochial  victory  we  seek. 
It  is  nothing  less  than  the  Christianization  of  all  hufnan  lives  and  institutions  and 
peoples, — a  task  to  challenge  the  scholarship  and  statesmanship  and  deathless 
devotion  of  all  Christendom.  It  is  the  call  of  humanity  itself.  East  and  West, 
black  and  white,  brown  and  yellow,  all  bearing  the  tarnished  image  and  super¬ 
scription  of  God.”  (Art.  entitled  “The  World  Vision.”) 

Yet  there  are  not  lacking  able  leaders  among  these  Oriental  peoples  who 
welcome  Christianity  as  the  hope  of  the  world.  Count  Okuma  writing  for 
the  same  publication  says: 

“Although  Christianity  has  enrolled  less  than  200,000  believers,  yet  the  indirect 
influence  of  Christianity  has  poured  into  every  realm  of  Japanese  life.  Concerning 
the  future  it  is  my  own  conviction  that  no  practical  solution  of  many  pressing  prob¬ 
lems  is  in  sight  apart  from  Christianity.” 


FII.  America  s  Resources. 

In  conclusion  let  us  consider  America’s  resources  for  missionary  en¬ 
deavor.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  cautious  objection  raised  by  Benjamin 
W.  Crowninshield  when  the  Congregational  Churches  applied  to  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  for  a  charter  for  the  “American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions”  that  it  “would  export  religion, 
whereas  there  was  none  to  spare  among  ourselves,”  to  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1918  when  the  130  missionary  societies  of  America  gave  124,688,000.00 
for  that  very  purpose.  Robert  E.  Speer  recently  declared  that: 

“Today  in  the  non-Christian  world  and  Latin-America  over  25,000  foreign  mis¬ 
sionaries  and  at  least  115,000  native  workers  are  proclaiming  the  glad  tidings  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  in  4,000  cities  and  towns  of  the  non-Christian  world;  that  26,- 
000  congregations  with  2,500,000  communicants  and  3,000,000  adherents  have  been 
gathered;  that  the  missionary  schools  are  training  2,000,000  young  people  for 
Christian  life  and  service;  that  700  hospitals  and  13,000  dispensaries  treated  in 
the  name  of  the  Great  Physician  3,500,000  patients;  that  Christ-like  men  and 


*4 


THE  WORLD-TASK 


women  ministered  to  the  lepers,  sheltered  the  insane,  cared  for  orphans,  taught 
the  blind,  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  sought  out  fallen  women,  promoted  moral  reforms, 
trained  in  useful  arts  and  in  various  ways  made  the  Gospel  of  Christ  a  living  force 
among  multitudes  of  peoples.” 

When  we  realize  that  all  this  was  done  last  year  for  less  money  than  is 
spent  for  the  building  and  equipping  of  a  single  battleship,  what  possibil¬ 
ities  for  service  beckon  a  people  newly  awakened  to  its  capacity  for  con¬ 
secrated  giving.  To  make  a  final  quotation  from  Taylor  &  Luccock’s 
work  “The  Christian  Crusade  for  World  Democracy”  (pp.  94-95): 

“It  is  a  day  for  large  things.  The  leadership  of  the  world  is  thinking  and  acting 
in  larger  terms  than  ever  before.  The  scale  on  which  resources  are  mobilized  in  the 
countries  at  war,  the  new  standards  of  thinking,  all  present  a  tremendous  challenge 
to  forsake  the  old  standards  forever,  and  to  lift  the  program  of  the  Kingdom  into 
terms  greater  and  more  expansive  than  those  of  all  other  organizations.” 

In  our  first  year  of  war  the  United  States  gave  to  humanitarian  and  Christian 
objects  the  sum  of  ^330,000,000.00.  In  no  previous  year  had  there  ever 
been  given  to  corresponding  objects  more  than  ^30,000,000.00.  In  fact, 
our  national  government  voted  to  expend  in  one  year  the  stupendous  total 
of  19  billions  of  dollars  when  the  entire  expenditure  of  the  nation  during 
the  one  hundred  and  forty-two  years  of  its  history  only  totaled  26  billions. 
America  has  the  resources,  it  has  the  leaders,  it  has  the  principles  (eco¬ 
nomic,  political  and  religious)  for  the  world’s  redemption.  Will  it  catch 
the  vision  and  hear  the  call?  This  is  the  challenge  of  the  world-task  in 
the  light  of  the  conviction  that: 

“God  is  working  His  purpose  out,  as  year  succeeds  to  year; 

God  is  working  His  purpose  out,  and  the  time  is  drawing  near. 

Nearer  and  nearer  and  nearer  draws  the  time,  the  time 
that  shall  surely  be — 

When  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  glory  of  God 
As  the  waters  cover  the  sea.” 


For  additional  literature  or  other  information 
regarding  the  work  of  the  American  Baptist 
Foreign  Mission  Society,  write  to 

Literature  Department,  Box  41,  Boston,  Mass. 


181-2M-8-1-1919 


V  '■ "1 ,  'I  I. 


'■  ■I'" 


'A  !•  1  ' 


1';' 


''  ‘|i II.  '/ '  ■ ' ' ' 


